BATTY SCOTS CLING TO LUCKY CHARMS

Britain is still clinging to traditional lucky charms despite living in a
hi-tech world, a new report by Bacardi reveals today.

70% of Scottish respondents - the highest proportion of any region in the
UK - believe that traditional good luck symbols are still relevant today,
compared with 57% in the South East and 50% in the North.

But somewhat surprisingly, the Scottish consider themselves to be the
least superstitious in Britain with only 14% of respondents believing in good
and bad luck compared to 33% of the North, who were revealed as the most
superstitious in Britain.

Bacardi's survey also found distinct gender differences, with around half
of all women and only a quarter of men believing in good luck momentos.

An overwhelming 75% of people in Scotland said they hung a horseshoe in
their homes to 'catch' good fortune, making it the most popular choice of
lucky charm. Respondents in the North tend to wear a charm bracelet and in the
South it is the St Christopher that proves to be most popular.

The survey also revealed that the horseshoe is also Scotland's most
renowned symbol of good fortune, compared to the rest of the UK who believe it
to be the four-leaf clover; this shows that superstitions can vary greatly
from region to region.

Bacardi, who commissioned the survey, has kept its famous bat logo for
over 140 years as it was considered a sign of good fortune in Catalonia, the
native town of the rum creator Don Facundo Bacardi. His wife discovered fruit
bats living in the rafters of Bacardi's first distillery in Cuba (1862) and
thought it an appropriate and instantly recognisable trademark for the largely
illiterate Cuban population of the time.

Despite the old-fashioned image of good luck symbols, 48% of all
respondents consider traditional symbols to be relevant today.

Britons are not alone in clinging to lucky symbols and charms which can
vary greatly from country to country. New Zealanders carry a stone carving
necklace when away from home, the Chinese display white china cats in their
places of work and the Texans carry the penis bones of raccoons for good
fortune!

Psychologist Dr David Lewis believes that more people will be turning to
lucky charms as we approach the millennium.

He said: "Lucky charms all serve the same psychological purpose. They
reassure their owners that good fortune will come to them or bad things be
avoided, so long as it is in their possession. At times of uncertainty, there
tends to be significant increase in superstitions and the use of lucky charms.
Many people believe that the end of the year will trigger many natural and
unnatural disasters. With so much uncertainty and apprehension in the air, it
is inevitable that people with lucky charms will cling to them even more
tightly while many without charms will rush out to find one.

"Freud called this type of ritual magic 'undoing', by which we seek to
exert control over the future and a way of reducing daily anxiety and
stress."

But it's not just people who cherish their old-time symbols; most
household brands cherish lucky icons, too.

She said: "A brand's icon can be likened to a personal lucky charm. Most
leading brand names do have strong symbols attached to them. In consumers eyes
these icons symbolise reliability, trust and a certain seal of approval. The
Bat has appeared on every bottle of Bacardi since its creation, it is now so
steeped in history that to remove it would be considered extremely bad luck."